Norm Dicks

Mr. DICKS

Mr. DICKS. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. DICKS. I yield my remaining time to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. DICKS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the remaining time.

Mr. DICKS. I just want to summarize again: I'm urging a ``no'' vote on this continuing resolution. We have voted twice, many of us on this side, for reasonable continuing resolutions that have gotten us to this point. This one is unreasonable. The President has made it clear that he will veto this bill. I believe what the gentleman from Maryland was attempting to do was the smart and pragmatic thing, and that was to go with a clean CR that would have kept the government open, that would have protected the troops, made sure that they got paid, and would have passed the Senate and been adopted by the President and signed into law. But they have chosen to put in a highly controversial rider on abortion in the District of Columbia which is ideological. This is not something that a serious appropriations committee would do in the middle of a government crisis, and I hope the American people will understand that. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DICKS

Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Quileute Tribe Tsunami Protection Act. This legislation will provide Park Service land to the Quileute Tribe to enable the re-location of many facilities outside the tsunami zone. The tragic events in Japan that we have sadly witnessed over the last week illustrate the need for this legislation. The threat of tsunamis is a harsh reality that the Quileutes face every day. The Tribe lives on a one-square mile reservation along the Pacific coast of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. It is a spectacularly beautiful place. Many of you, or at least your children or grandchildren, recognize the Quileute Tribe from the Twilight series of novels and movies. But there is nothing romantic about the tsunami threat. Much of the Tribe's infrastructure, including a day care center, the elder center, government offices and Quileute Tribal members', homes are in the direct path of a potential tsunami. In addition, the Tribe faces a nearly annual flood threat from the Quillayute River. The purpose of this legislation is to help the Quileutes move their people and buildings to safer land. The Olympic National Park would transfer land that is out of the tsunami zone to the Tribe for the development of new infrastructure. The legislation also settles a long-standing dispute between the Olympic National Park and the Tribe over the northern boundary of the Reservation. The resolution of this dispute benefits the Tribe, the Park Service and the general public. The bill also guarantees access for the public to some of the most beautiful Washington State beaches, and will designate as wilderness thousands of acres currently in the Olympic National Park. I want to thank the Quileute Tribe, National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis and Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin for their hard work over many years to resolve this dispute and provide safer land for the Tribe. I ask my colleagues to consider the present danger to the Quileute Tribe and to support this bill.

Mr. DICKS

Mr. DICKS. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today, the House is considering the fifth continuing resolution for FY 2011 to keep the Federal Government running. Here we are, in the middle of March, considering yet another short-term bill that is supposed to buy us time to negotiate funding for the remainder of the fiscal year, and I hope that proves to be true. We need to bring this to a conclusion. The extension reduces spending in FY 2011 by $45 billion below the President's request. It adds another $6 billion in ``common ground'' spending reductions. In total, the measure cuts $51 billion below the President's request. The idea behind the 3-week extension is to provide an opportunity for the House, Senate, and White House to settle all outstanding issues on fiscal year 2011 appropriations. I remain hopeful that negotiations will succeed and we will be able to give our agencies some amount of certainty for what little remains of fiscal year 2011. Today, in The New York Times, there was a long article showing what kind of disruption occurs in Federal agencies, including Defense and Social Security and others, Head Start for example, because we haven't gotten these bills enacted, but I must remind my colleagues that if this CR is extended for the remainder of the year, we would be cutting spending at historic levels, $51 billion below the President's request. I am worried that cutting deeper will threaten a fragile economic recovery. Most economists see cuts in H.R. 1 as a drag on economic growth leading to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, as Fed Chairman Bernanke projects. Moody's Mark Zandi estimates 400,000 jobs lost for the remainder of this year and 700,000 more next year if H.R. 1 is enacted. Goldman Sachs think it would be as high as 2.4 million jobs lost. In yesterday's ABC News-Washington Post poll, the American people believe that the Republican proposed cuts in H.R. 1 will hurt the economic recovery. I am relieved that Chairman Rogers crafted a bill that relies on previously identified reductions, a significant portion of which were old earmarks. And while I know my colleagues will not agree with, and may not be able to support, some of the specific program cuts included in this package, I appreciate that there was a genuine attempt to engage the Senate and White House before they were chosen. Most importantly, I am tremendously relieved the chairman has stayed away from controversial riders in this stopgap measure. He knows, as I do, that these riders would almost guarantee a veto by the administration, which would almost guarantee a government shutdown. An appropriations bill is not the place to decide enormously complex and controversial policy issues. I am not pleased to be here today with yet another short-term bill. I sincerely hope that we will use this 3-week period of time judiciously so the next time we consider a bill for fiscal year 2011 it will be the last and for the remaining 6 months of this year. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DICKS. There is an article today in the Washington Post how House GOP spending cuts would add up to more spending later. This is what we worry about here.

Mr. DICKS. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. DICKS. I yield myself 30 seconds. In going back and looking, NOAA operations, research, and facilities in H.R. 1 is cut by $454.3 million. And one of the officials there said what would happen in the continuing resolution, there will be a dismantling of our Nation's early warning system, Dan Sobien, president of the National Weather Service Employees Organization, said in a telephone interview. It will result in a roughly 30 percent cut in the budget of the National Weather Service. Sobien said the current plan called for the Weather Service to close individual offices for about a month at a time on a rolling basis.

Mr. DICKS. I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from California, Barbara Lee, a member of the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. DICKS. I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran), who is the ranking member on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee and is also the former chairman of that committee.

Mr. DICKS. I yield the gentleman an additional minute.

Mr. DICKS. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished Democratic whip, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. DICKS. I yield an additional minute. And one of the things that I'm most concerned about is the women and infant care program, WIC, which provides nutrition to an expectant mother, who's probably on Medicaid, and help her and the baby to be born in a more healthy way. And we find out that the hospitals in this country provide $26 billion of health care for these same babies who are born premature. So it's pay me now or pay me later. And in this case, it would be a lot more. The IRS is another example. NOAA weather satellites is another example. In the middle of this tsunami and earthquake, we need to be doing more in these areas. And the American people understand this. They want us to make reasonable judgments. And I hope we can make reasonable judgments. I happen to be the ranking on Defense. We can cut some money out of defense. We cut $15 billion. We can do a little bit more in that area. But I think we've got to be careful. And when this final package comes together, we've got to talk out the ones that would be revenue raisers.

Mr. DICKS. I yield myself 15 seconds. I want to correct the record. I was referring to H.R. 1, not to the CR. The gentleman from Kentucky is absolutely correct.

Mr. DICKS. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. DICKS. There are some things that I think NOAA thinks would have an effect on their weather forecasting.

Mr. DICKS. Okay. Well, we'll check that out. I yield 2 minutes to the Delegate from the District of Columbia, Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, could you tell the chairman and myself what our time remaining is?

Mr. DICKS. I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlelady from Hawaii, Mazie Hirono, who is going to correct the record on the NOAA issue.

Mr. DICKS. I yield the gentlelady another 30 seconds.

Mr. DICKS. I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlelady from Ohio, Marcy Kaptur, who is a very senior member of the Appropriations Committee and, I think, the longest serving woman in the House of Representatives.

Mr. DICKS. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I also want to take a moment to congratulate and thank two long-time committee staff members who both are leaving us this month after many years of service. Beverly Pheto spent 10 years on the committee, serving as clerk on both the Transportation Subcommittee and the Homeland Security Subcommittee before becoming the first woman staff director of the full committee under former Chairman David Obey. Bev was the top Democratic staff person during 9/11, the creation of the Transportation Security Administration, and the Department of Homeland Security, and during Hurricane Katrina. And in the last Congress, as majority clerk, Beverly helped craft the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act--the Recovery Act that saved tens of thousands of American jobs and kept this country from slipping into another Great Depression. We thank Bev for agreeing to stay on with us and help with the committee's transition and congratulate her on her many years of service, both in the executive branch as well as for us. She will be missed, but we wish her well in her new endeavors. I also want to extend my deep appreciation to Chris Topik, who has served on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee since 1995, most recently as the minority clerk. Chris began his career with the U.S. Forest Service before coming to the committee as a detailee. During his time on the Interior Subcommittee, Chris found himself in the middle of some of the most contentious environmental policy disputes but always remained the consummate professional. While I chaired the Interior Subcommittee, I relied heavily on his solid judgment and wise counsel. I wish Chris the very best as he leaves the committee and thank him again for his service.

Mr. DICKS. I yield to the distinguished chairman.